Issues for Labor Law and Changes in Corporate Organization (Japanese)

For labor law scholars studying law concerning labor relations, an important issue is to elucidate the organic relationship between labor relations within companies and the labor market, and to indicate what could be the optimum system of law for each. Hitherto, however, labor relations have basically been confined within individual companies, leaving very little room for the labor market to function, and consequently labor law has not had a great interest in the labor market. In the current environment in which companies have undergone organizational change, and market-oriented factors in various aspects of operations such as corporate finance, governance, and labor relations are being incorporated, it is insufficient for labor law to assume only the closed world of the corporate organization. There is a pressing need to develop a theory that considers the organic relationship between companies and the labor market. At the same time it is necessary for labor relations within companies to introduce mechanisms that differ from conventional ones. Taking cognizance of these labor law issues, this paper casts light on the reasons and related problems as to why conventional labor relations and labor law are focused on closed labor relations within companies and are not cognizant of the relationship between the labor market and companies. It thus suggests the necessity of rebuilding labor relations in companies to accompany corporate organizational change, of building an organic relationship between the labor market and companies by undertaking fundamental development of the labor market, and of presenting a new social image to replace corporate society.